Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stroke sensor system.
Discussion of the Background
Motorcycles and other similar vehicles are each equipped with a suspension.
While the vehicle is running, vibrations are transmitted from the ground surface to the body of the vehicle, and the suspension alleviates the vibrations to appropriate levels that provide improved ride comfortability and handling stability. The suspension is equipped with a stroke sensor to keep track of the amount of stroke.
WO 2013/066158 discloses a suspension assembly that includes an inner tube, an outer tube, an electrically insulating cover, an alternating-current (AC) source, a detector, and a processing unit. The inner tube and the outer tube make a telescopic movement with respect to each other. The electrically insulating cover is stationarily arranged with respect to one of the inner tube and the outer tube and is arranged to coaxially overlap the other tube of the inner tube and the outer tube. The electrically insulating cover includes an electrical coil. The AC source is connected to the electrical coil to form an electrical circuit. The detector detects a value of an electrical parameter of the electrical circuit, such as the current through or the voltage over the electrical coil. The processing unit determines the relative position of the inner tube and the outer tube using change in the value of the electrical parameter with respect to a known value of the electrical parameter at a predefined relative position of the inner tube and the outer tube.
Conventional examples of the stroke sensor include linear potentiometric sensors and rotary potentiometric sensors.